A court in Brazil ordered 11 Vale SA employees and two contractors who worked for auditor TÜV SÜD AG to be arrested and charged following the fatal tailings dam breach at the Feijao mine in January, Reuters reported March 14.
The decision comes just barely a month after the workers were released by an appeals court order. Vale said the arrests are unnecessary, given that these people had already given their statements to authorities.
In the wake of the disaster — which claimed over 300 lives, with 108 still unaccounted for — senior executives of the mining major, including CEO Fábio Schvartsman, stepped aside on a temporary basis, with additional employees dismissed, following a request by a Brazilian task force in charge of the investigation.